A Gift from the Past Read Online Free Page A

left his bedroom.
    When she returned to the living room, Joshua was still seated on the sofa. He rose when she entered the room. “You want to tell me what’s going on around here? What happened to Sarge?”
    She raised a finger to her lips and indicated he should follow her out the front door. When theywere both on the porch, she turned to him. Maybe if she answered his questions he would go away.
    â€œThree years ago, Sarge began to complain about his eyesight, but you know how he’s always been about going to doctors.”
    â€œYeah, wild horses couldn’t drag him.” He leaned a hip against the porch railing and for the first time she noticed the small differences time had wrought in him. He’d been recklessly handsome at eighteen, dangerously attractive at twenty.
    But now, at twenty-five, tiny lines had appeared, fanning out from his startling green eyes, and there was a sheen of worldliness about him that merely added to his physical appeal.
    â€œAnyway, I didn’t realize just how bad it was until he wrecked his police car.” She looked out toward the yard, finding it easier to speak if she wasn’t looking at him.
    â€œThe accident wasn’t a bad one, but it convinced him he needed to see a doctor. We discovered he had diabetes, probably had had it for years and the degeneration in his eyes was massive.”
    â€œIs there anything they can do? Any kind of operation?” he asked.
    She shook her head, still keeping her gaze focused in the distance. “He’s had two operations on his eyes, but they were unsuccessful. Anyway, over the last two years he’s adjusted fairly well to the blindness. Then, last month he had a stroke. That’s what put him in the wheelchair and hehasn’t been dealing very well with the new challenges.”
    She didn’t even realize Joshua had moved from his position until his hand closed around her forearm. “Why didn’t you contact me and tell me what was going on?” His green eyes held the first stir of anger. “I had a right to know that he was ill.”
    She jerked her arm away from his grasp and took a step back from him. You had no right. You lost your rights when you walked out, she wanted to say, but she didn’t. “There was nothing you could do…nothing anyone could do. Besides, I’m handling things.”
    â€œHandling things?” He gestured toward the yard. “That’s certainly not the way I see it. It looks like everything is falling apart around you.”
    â€œThat’s not true,” she protested. “I’ve just…just gotten a little behind with things.”
    He studied her for a long moment. “You look tired, Claire, and you’re too thin. Who is helping you care for Sarge?”
    â€œI don’t need help taking care of him. I told you, we’re fine.” She raised her chin and for a moment their gazes remained locked. “I know Sarge issued an invitation for you to stay here, but I really think you’d be more comfortable at the motel.”
    His eyes lightened in hue and a smile curved the corners of his lips. “Why, Cookie, you’re almost making me think you don’t want me here.”
    â€œI don’t want you here. This is Sarge’s house…my home, and you chose to leave it a long time ago.”
    â€œYou made it impossible for me to stay,” he replied, the light in his eyes diminishing. “But I have no intention of rehashing the past.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “However, you’re mistaken about one thing. Two years ago I paid off the mortgage on this house, and Sarge insisted I put it in my name. So, I’m really not intruding in your house, for the past two years, I’ve allowed you to live in mine.”
    This was the second shock of the day, and Claire wondered how many of these she could take without having a breakdown of some sort. “Then, I guess